‘The worst scenario you could have’

Oct 30, 2024

By Eli Stokols, Lauren Egan and Ben Johansen

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Throughout the West Wing this week, aides have been repeating a simple mantra for President JOE BIDEN ’s — and their collective — objective for the final week before Election Day: “Do no harm.”

But on Tuesday evening, White House aides who attended KAMALA HARRIS’ “closing argument” speech at The Ellipse left the rally and reentered cell phone coverage areas only to learn that the president’s comment on a call with Latino activists, on which he seemed to refer to DONALD TRUMP supporters as “garbage,” was starting to dominate their social media feeds.

The positive energy from the rally as well as the pre-election jitters that the rousing speech had helped calm were overwhelmed by a new anxiety: that the same Biden inability to communicate clearly that led to Harris replacing him atop the ticket in July was creating new landmines for her in the campaign’s final critical stretch.

“Our motto was ‘do no harm’ this week,” said one White House official granted anonymity to share their personal feelings about the matter. “This is probably the worst scenario you could have if that was your goal for the week.”

Of course, it’s not clear how much harm Biden’s latest gaffe will do. While Trump and everyone else in the MAGA media ecosystem immediately seized on the comments to animate a base driven largely by grievance, swing voters, who aren’t watching much cable news, may not care about the comment, if they even hear about it. Though Biden is notably slated to travel twice to Pennsylvania — once to Philadelphia on Friday, then to his hometown of Scranton this weekend — before the election.

“Biden isn’t the candidate,” one former administration official said. “It’s been a long time since most of these people cared about anything he’s said.”

But as Trump world sought to leverage Biden’s comment, likening it to HILLARY CLINTON ’s 2016 disparagement of some of Trump’s supporters as “deplorables,” the White House — and the Harris campaign — were quick to respond in an effort to tamp down the controversy.

The White House communications team engaged over email Tuesday evening after a staffer first flagged the comment following the call, according to two officials granted anonymity to share details about the internal process. None of those who prepped Biden for or observed the Voto Latino call seemed to realize it might be problematic when he said it.

It fell to communications director BEN LaBOLT, deputy chief of staff ANNIE TOMASINI, and others to notify Biden about the controversy and hash out the wording of his eventual post on X clarifying that he hadn’t meant to demean all Trump supporters. Biden, the two officials said, told aides he had meant to refer only to comedian TONY HINCHCLIFFE , who at Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.”

Harris, and running mate TIM WALZ, both addressed Biden’s remark on Wednesday morning, with the vice president offering her strongest criticism of the president since taking over as the Democratic nominee.

“First of all, he clarified his comments,” Harris told reporters before boarding Air Force Two for a flight to North Carolina. “But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”

She continued: “I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not. And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not. That is my responsibility, and that’s the kind of work that I’ve done my entire career. And I take it very seriously.”

Trump, during his own rally in North Carolina, asserted that Biden’s remark made clear what both “he and Harris really think” about his supporters and tried to wrest away the unity mantle. “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans,” said Trump, who in recent days has vowed to root out “the enemy within.” He has also referred to the entire country as a “garbage can” and has not repudiated Hinchcliffe’s controversial comments.

Inside the West Wing on Wednesday, staffers worked with the quad — monitors displaying four cable channels simultaneously — showing numerous panels of pundits focusing on Biden’s remark more than Harris’ speech. And among some of the aides closest to Biden, who’ve professed they want nothing more than for Harris to win the election, there was some mild complaining that Harris’ comments on the tarmac were too critical of the president, another official said.

During Wednesday’s briefing, press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE said that Biden himself agreed with Harris’ comments about not attacking people based on who they vote for.

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POTUS PUZZLER

What building is considered the “most haunted” in Washington?

(Answer at bottom.)

CAMPAIGN HQ

SO MUCH FOR NEVER GOING BACK: Former terminator and California Gov. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER endorsed Vice President Harris on Wednesday in a lengthy post on X . The Republican slammed Donald Trump as “un-American” for rejecting the results of the 2020 election and said that, despite having disagreements with the vice president over policy issues, “we need to close the door on this chapter of American history.”

“A candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea — that won’t solve our problems,” Schwarzenegger wrote.

According to a Blueprint study released earlier this week, Schwarzenegger ranked as the third most favorable celebrity among men, just behind SAMUEL L. JACKSON (who appeared at a Harris rally last week) and SHAQUILLE “DIESEL” O’NEAL. Also in the top 12 were LEONARDO DiCAPRIO, STEPH CURRY and EMINEM, who have all come out in support of the vice president.

And our CHRIS CADELAGO reports that Schwarzenegger and Tim Walz spoke directly after the Minnesota governor’s debate with JD VANCE . At the time, Walz didn't outright ask for his endorsement. But the vice president recently connected with Schwarzenegger over the phone and asked for his direct support.

THE FALLOUT CONTINUES: NICKY JAM, a popular Puerto Rican musician, withdrew his endorsement of Donald Trump, a month after he donned a MAGA hat and appeared with the former president at a Las Vegas rally. The reggaeton artist, who has over 43 million followers on Instagram, posted a video in Spanish on Wednesday saying Puerto Rico “should be respected.”

He added: “Never in my life did I think that a month later, a comedian would criticize my country, speak ill of my country. And for that reason, I renounce my support of Donald Trump.”

COURTING THE FANTASY BROS: Second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF made an appearance on The Ringer’s fantasy football podcast on Wednesday, flexing his 6-2 team in the longtime league he’s had with his buddies from the University of Southern California since 1989 — a team he also shares with his son, COLE.

Some guys the Emhoffs have relied on this year: MARVIN HARRISON JR., LADD McCONKEY and the recently injured CHRIS GODWIN. Not sure if that’s a 6-2 team. Harrison’s great, but the rook’s not reliable!

When asked if the second gentleman will be all over the waivers on Tuesday (aka Election Day, also when the waiver wire opens), Emhoff made clear he can juggle responsibilities. “Look, I can multitask,” he said. “I can try and save our country and make sure that our team gets to the finals again.”

WHAT WILMINGTON WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by NYT’s ANNIE KARNI, who reports that House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON on Tuesday said that Republicans would embark on a “massive reform” of the Affordable Care Act if Trump is elected again, putting a largely unpopular policy position back in the spotlight.

“Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda,” Johnson said at a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, describing what Republicans would do with their first 100 days in office if they are successful in keeping control of the House.

“No Obamacare?” a voter called out. “No Obamacare,” Johnson responded. “The A.C.A. is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we’ve got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”

Campaign director of rapid response AMMAR MOUSSA shared the piece on X.

WHAT WILMINGTON DOESN’T WANT YOU TO WATCH: Joe Biden.

The Oval

MORE CLEANUP: In today’s briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the president’s "garbage" comment was referring to rhetoric from Tony Hinchcliffe. “He believes he is a president for all, it doesn’t matter who you voted for,” Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre also confirmed that Biden and Harris spoke following her speech but said he was only congratulating her and didn’t elaborate on the conversation. She wouldn’t say where Biden plans to spend election night, though she did confirm he plans to attend the inauguration ceremony in January no matter who wins.

SOMEONE GET JOE SOME BUNNY EARS: In just a few minutes, approximately 8,000 parents and crying kids will participate in the White House’s annual trick-or-treating event. First lady JILL BIDEN’s theme this year, “Hallo-READ!” (blah), includes festive decor featuring “famous literary tales and spooky story time.” Some of the costumed characters who will stroll the South Lawn for the event: PETER RABBIT, BARNEY and DARTH VADER, among other heavy hitters.

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THE BUREAUCRATS

PERSONNEL MOVES: ANNALISE MYRE is now a regional communications associate at the White House. She most recently was a special assistant to cabinet affairs.

— KATIE WINDHAM has been promoted to be senior policy adviser for the National Economic Council.

Agenda Setting

CAN’T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS: On Wednesday, the Commerce Department released a report showing the U.S. economy grew at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter, driven largely by consumer spending, NYT’s BEN CASSELMAN writes. That came close to the 3 percent growth rate in the second quarter and was the latest indication that the surprisingly resilient recovery from the Covid recession remained on solid footing.

Consumer spending grew at a 3.7 percent rate, adjusted for inflation. Rising wages and low unemployment — which came in at 4.1 percent — shows that Americans have continued to earn more, while inflation continues to ease.

Economist PAUL KRUGMAN shared a graph on X showing actual GDP vs. Congressional Budget Office projections in January 2020. “If this is a policy failure, what would success look like?” he wrote.

YOU DON’T SAY? The Biden administration has received nearly 500 reports alleging Israel used American-supplied weapons for attacks that caused unnecessary harm to civilians in the Gaza strip, but has failed to comply with its own policies requiring swift investigations into such claims, WaPo’s ABIGAIL HAUSLOHNER and MICHAEL BIRNBAUM report . Some of the cases presented to the State Department over the past year likely amount to violations of U.S. and international law.

ZELENSKYY ISN’T THRILLED. AGAIN. Not only is Biden refusing VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY’s request to loosen restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-made missiles and slow-walking the country’s accession to NATO. Now, the administration is leaking other requests of his to the media. According to our VERONIKA MELKOZEROVA, Zelenskyy confirmed he asked Biden for long-range Tomahawk missiles (the answer was no) and was not happy to see a senior U.S. official describing the request to the NYT as totally unfeasible.

“And this was confidential information between Ukraine and the White House. How should we understand these messages? So, it means, between partners, there’s nothing confidential?” Zelenskyy said during an interview with Nordic media outlets published Wednesday.

What We're Reading

Breaking: Sources Say the Story You’re Reading Isn’t Real (The Bulwark's Sam Stein)

Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Billions of Ways to Influence an Election (NYT’s David Streitfeld)

The nation’s freshmen reckon with a mass school shooting by one of their own (WaPo’s John Woodrow Cox and Hannah Natanson)

Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally sullied a place where real winners play with honor (Bill Bradley for New York Daily News)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

WaPo’s DAN DIAMOND and BRITTANY SHAMMAS have a piece out this morning, detailing how the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (aka EEOB) got the reputation as the “most haunted” building in Washington. LONNIE HOVEY , the White House director of preservation, told colleagues in 2003 that objects inside a locked exhibit case kept moving around. And he was the only one with a key.

Following the advice of a self-described spiritualist, Hovey waited until the hallway was empty. He stood in front of the case and pleaded aloud with “the spirits” to stop. And the mysterious movements did stop for six months (eyebrows, raised).

“For Hovey, it confirmed his suspicions: There were supernatural forces haunting the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, a conclusion he shared in internal documents and proclaimed to the public in 2004,” Diamond and Shammas write.

MICHELE PERRY, who was an intern under Hovey, described a similarly unusual experience walking down the granite staircase in EEOB — the same staircase that WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT had fallen down. “I swear I felt like I had someone holding onto my arm helping me down the staircase,” Perry told WaPo. Sureeeee ….

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Steve Shepard and Rishika Dugyala.

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Instead of saving money, some Medicare patients will pay more for medicines.

Others may not be able to get their medicines – 89% of insurers and PBMs say they plan to reduce access to medicines in Medicare Part D because of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Higher costs and less access. That’s not what seniors were promised.

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